Indigenous groups in different parts of the Philippines commemorated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9. Led by the Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, together with national democratic and environmental groups, they expressed their grievances at Camp Aguinaldo and the offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

They condemned the AFP for its militarization, bombing and harassment of indigenous communities. They also asserted before the DENR the rights of national minorities to their ancestral land and self-determination amid the continuing sale of natural resources to foreign capitalists and militarizations of their communities. They condemned the agency for colluding with big mining and dam companies that destroy the environment and drive them away their lands.

At the NCIP, they held the agency accountable for its gross neglect of indigenous communities. They accused it of incompetence amid widespread human rights violations against indigenous peoples’ defenders, such as Dexter Capuyan and Bazoo de Jesus, and the unjust conviction of the Talaingod 13. They also condemned the agency for changing the FPIC application process without consulting the indigenous people. They also held the agency accountable for its close ties to the NTF-Elcac, the state’s instrument responsible for a number human rights violations against national minorities.